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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22631797">In The Darkness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyacchan/pseuds/Nyacchan'>Nyacchan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Events of 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>BUCK-TICK, Der Zibet (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Fear, Ghost Hunting, M/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 09:48:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,277</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22631797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyacchan/pseuds/Nyacchan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Edit (08-23-2020):<br/>- Spelling and grammatical errors have been fixed.<br/>- The writing style has slightly changed.<br/>- The story is mostly still the same however.</p><p>Issay joins Atsushi on an illegal ghost hunting trip in an old, abandoned building in the middle of the night. Will that go well?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Issay (Der Zibet)/Sakurai Atsushi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Events of 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918348</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Search</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this for my own birthday. (February 10th)<br/>It will be part of a series called "Events of 2020", for this I will write a small story for every special day I have at least something with. This story is the first one and is, as I already said, written for my birthday. The remaining stories will be for:<br/>February 14th, a Valentine's day story.<br/>April 12th, an Easter story.<br/>October 31st, a Halloween story.<br/>December 25th, a Christmas story.<br/>December 31st, A New Years story.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“No, I’m not joining you Acchan,” Imai repeated, he would not change his answer, no matter how many times Atsushi kept asking that same question.</p><p>“Why not? Are you scared?” Atsushi asked, trying to tease his friend into agreeing to go along with his plan.</p><p>Atsushi had recently heard of this old, abandoned building that once used to be an asylum plus hospital. According to the stories, terrible things have happened there and the place is now said to be haunted. The building has shut down and entering is now illegal, yet that will not stop the thrill seekers, and neither will it stop Atsushi and his curiosity.</p><p>Atsushi has been interested in ghosts for several years now, and his will to prove their existence has led him to want to spend a night at that building, yet he did not want to go alone. It was not the ghosts he was afraid of, but rather the thought of spending the night alone at a strange location.</p><p>“I don’t want to break into an old shithole to go fantasy hunting in the middle of the night!” Imai replied somewhat aggressively, annoyed that Atsushi would not just let it go already.</p><p>“It’s not fantasy hunting! Ghosts exist and I could prove it to you if you joined me!” Atsushi returned, he would love to finally be able to prove his friend wrong.</p><p>“What part of, ‘I don’t want to’, don’t you understand?! And besides that, it’s illegal anyway.”</p><p>“Oh come on! Since when do you care about legal?” Atsushi said in response, annoyed that Imai was now suddenly acting like he was one with the law.</p><p>“Since I don’t want to spend my holiday in jail, bye Acchan,” Imai then said as he closed the door right in Atsushi’s face.</p><p>Atsushi had already tried to get some of his other friends, Hide, Yuta and Toll, to come along as well, yet they too had all turned him down. In fact, this was already the second time he tried it with Imai, hoping to change his mind, but to no avail.</p><p>What was Atsushi going to do now? He desperately wanted to investigate that building, even if it was risky, but he definitely did not want to go on his own.</p><p>“Atsushi-kun?” a familiar voice spoke from within the halls of this apartment building.</p><p>“Issay-san!” Atsushi replied happily, seeing the older man walk towards him.</p><p>“What are you doing here?” Issay asked as he gave Atsushi a quick hug in greeting.</p><p>“Ah, I was just talking to Imai, what about you?” Atsushi replied, wondering why Issay was here.</p><p>“I’m here to visit a friend. So, how are you doing? Haven’t spoken to you in a while.”</p><p>“I’m fine, how are you?”</p><p>“That’s good to hear, I’m fine as well. You know, we should hang out more often.”</p><p>“Yes we should… and now that you mention it anyway, do you have a minute?” Atsushi then asked, an idea popping up in his head.</p><p>“Sure, I’m here a bit too early anyway.”</p><p>“Alright, well, have you heard about that building? The asylum hospital one that was shut down a long time ago?”</p><p>“The one that is claimed to be haunted?” Issay asked in return, seemingly knowing the rumors.</p><p>“Yes that one. So, I want to go in there to see if it’s true-”</p><p>“And you want me to join you?” Issay added before Atsushi could even finish his sentence.</p><p>“... Yes, do you want to?” Atsushi then asked, hoping Issay would be willing to come along after everyone else had already rejected him.</p><p>“Atsushi-kun, that’s illegal,” the older man mentioned, he said the same thing as everyone else, they had all turned him down for this reason.</p><p>“Only if they find out, as long as we do this carefully it’ll be fine,” Atsushi returned, hoping to change Issay’s mind.</p><p>Issay stayed quiet for a bit, it seemed like he was actually considering it. “Let me guess, you want to go at night?” he then asked, avoiding the question of joining for now.</p><p>“Of course, at night you have the highest chance to actually see something.”</p><p>“You really expect to find ghosts or something in there?” Issay now asked, sceptical.</p><p>“Of course...” Atsushi replied, already seeing the older man raise his eyebrow, “you don’t believe, do you?”</p><p>“No, I don’t.”</p><p>“Well, let me prove it to you then, come with me and I’ll show you they are real,” Atsushi said, hoping to spark some sort of interest in Issay.</p><p>“You really are sure about this, aren’t you?” Issay asked, seeing no signs of joking in the younger man.</p><p>“They exist!” Atsushi exclaimed, certainty in his voice.</p><p>“Alright, so, if I won’t join you, who will you ask?”</p><p>“Well... I’ve already tried some people, but...” Atsushi answered, looking away.</p><p>“But nobody wants to come along, huh?” Issay said in question, to which Atsushi nodded. “So, I’m your last option then, right?”</p><p>“Well... yes, but that does not mean that you are the last person I want to do this with,” Atsushi returned, he would love to do this with Issay.</p><p>the older man sighed before he spoke, “I honestly don’t want to do this, one, because it is illegal, two, because it is unnecessary, and three, because I don’t want to be out all night-”</p><p>“Why not? It sounds like you are just scared,” Atsushi interrupted.</p><p>“I wasn’t done talking yet,” Issay simply returned.</p><p>“Right, sorry.”</p><p>“So, like I said, I have enough reasons not to do this. And that is not because I am scared, since I have no reason to be scared of something that doesn’t exist- no, wait,” Issay said as he noticed that Atsushi was about to interrupt him again. “You probably want to say that you want to prove it, but just listen first. Even though I don’t want to, I’ll come along anyway.”</p><p>“... What?” Atsushi just asked after that, he was not expecting that.</p><p>“Yes, the main reason for this is that if I don’t, no one will, and I don’t want to let you do something stupid in the middle of the night on your own, so I’ll join you.”</p><p>“Right... well, works for me,” Atsushi returned, surprised that he actually managed to get someone to join him.</p><p>“So, when do you want to go?”</p><p>“Tomorrow night, is that alright?”</p><p>“Sure, I’ll come to your place then,” Issay said, preferring to meet up there over having to wait at that building.</p><p>“That’s fine, around midnight hour then?”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“Right, well, make sure to rest before then, you don’t want to fall asleep there.”</p><p>“I know. Well, I’ll see you then, I have to go now,” Issay returned as he put a hand on Atsushi’s shoulder before passing him by and walking away.</p><p>As Atsushi turned his head, he noticed Imai standing by the window, shaking his head in disapproval. He probably heard the conversation between Atsushi and Issay, the walls of these apartments were thin after all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Investigation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Saturday, 11:30 in the evening. Atsushi was preparing for his night of ghost hunting as the doorbell rang. It was still too early for Issay to arrive, yet upon opening the door, Atsushi found the older man standing right there anyway.</p><p>“You are early,” Atsushi commented as he stepped aside to let Issay enter.</p><p>“Yes, I decided to show up early,” Issay replied as he took his coat and shoes off, he then followed the younger man into the apartment.</p><p>“Alright, well I was just getting ready,” Atsushi mentioned as he moved over to the bag he was preparing. Issay followed him and took a look at the stuff that was on the table. Two flashlights, extra batteries, a camera, a notebook, two pens and a knife.</p><p>“A knife?” Issay asked, wondering what Atsushi would ever need a knife for.</p><p>“Yes, if we need to defend ourselves,” Atsushi explained, not realizing how stupid that sounded.</p><p>“Defend ourselves?... From what?” Issay asked, testing to see how long it would take until the younger man came to the realization.</p><p>“What do you mean from what? From ghosts of course,” Atsushi replied as he saw Issay’s eyebrow raise up, “... oh.”</p><p>“Yeah? Is that brain cell awake now?” Issay commented with a small laugh.</p><p>“Uh... yeah... let’s forget this ever happened,” Atsushi then said, looking away as he felt quite dumb.</p><p>“Yeah, well, one more thing, if we happen to get caught and you have a knife on you, then we will be in a lot of trouble, so no knife,” Issay added as he took the knife and put it back in the kitchen.</p><p>“Any other weapons I need to know about?” the older man asked as he returned, wanting to make sure that Atsushi could not be any more stupid than necessary this night.</p><p>“No, that knife was the only thing I thought about.”</p><p>“So, you want to bring something for defense, and then you bring one knife while we are with two people?”</p><p>“I can defend you,” Atsushi answered, smiling at the older man.</p><p>“Mhm, sure,” Issay returned sarcastically as he smiled back, “really nothing else?”</p><p>“Want to check?” Atsushi asked in return as he spread his arms.</p><p>“If you say that you don’t carry any more weapons on you, then I’ll believe you,” Issay replied, not feeling the need to check, and thus Atsushi continued to pack his bag.</p><p>“You didn’t bring anything though?” Atsushi asked the older man, noticing that he had apparently not brought anything along.</p><p>“No, what would I need?” Issay returned, more surprised at the fact that Atsushi was dragging so much along.</p><p>“Flashlight, at least,” the younger man answered as he waved one around.</p><p>“Well I forgot about that,” Issay replied. Atsushi did have a point though, that building must be dark after all. “But besides that, everything here is unnecessary.”</p><p>“Batteries, for if either one of the lights or the camera runs out, camera to catch proof, notebook and pen to write things down if necessary and extra pen for if one goes dry,” Atsushi said, explaining the need for all these items.</p><p>“Fine, if you say so. But how do you even plan to get inside?” Issay asked, wondering if everything was really taken care of.</p><p>“Don’t worry about that, you’ll see once we arrive,” Atsushi replied, it seemed like he had already thought about that as well, for just how long has he even been planning all of this? “Oh, and I advise you to go to the toilet before we leave, you never know after all,” he then added, an actual good idea for a change.</p><p>“Yeah I’ll go,” Issay agreed, quickly making use of Atsushi’s bathroom. After he was done, Atsushi went as well and then it was time to leave. They went with Issay’s car, he drove them to a parking lot nearby the building, yet they still had to walk for a bit. Atsushi had suggested not to park too close near the building to prevent suspicion, and Issay had agreed to that.</p><p>Once Issay had parked the car, they started to make their way towards the building, which was about a ten minute walk away. And once they arrived, Issay simply followed the younger man as he searched around, seemingly looking for something.</p><p>“Ah, here it is,” Atsushi softly spoke as he seemed to have found what he was looking for. A boarded up window, yet it looked different from all the other boarded up windows. As all the other windows were sealed by a piece of wood that fit perfectly in the frames, this one had a piece that seemed to be somewhat off, as well as another wooden plank over it.</p><p>“This seems to be stuck in place huh? Well if what they told me is true, then...” Atsushi said as he started fidgeting with the wooden plate. “Got it,” he added after a few seconds, managing to slide the plate up and out of the hold of the wooden plank in front of it.</p><p>“They once broke the plating of this window to get in and it hasn’t been properly fixed yet,” Atsushi explained as he took his backpack off. “Hold this for a minute please,” he said as he shoved the bag into Issay’s arms. The younger man then started to squeeze himself through the largest gap in between the wooden bar and the window frame, managing to get inside the building.</p><p>“If I fit through, you definitely will,” Atsushi said to the older man as he offered to take the bag back, which Issay handed over to him. Atsushi put it on the ground before he added, “hand me that plate as well,” as he stretched out his arm through another gap. Without questioning it, Issay handed him the plate and started to squeeze himself through that same gap Atsushi managed to get in through.</p><p>As Issay was now inside as well, Atsushi started to fidget with that wooden plate once again, this time actually managing to put it back in place. He did not want anyone to get suspicious, Issay had already realized that as well. Atsushi then reached for his bag again, the little bit of moonlight coming through the gaps in this one window being just enough to barely see it’s silhouette.</p><p>Feeling around in the bag, he soon found one of the flashlights, he turned it on and handed it over to Issay as he searched for the second, turning that one on as well before grabbing the camera and putting the bag around his shoulders again.</p><p>“Alright, well... let’s look around,” Atsushi said as he turned the camera on, starting to film.</p><p>“I’ll follow you,” Issay replied, still wondering why he was actually doing this.</p><p>Atsushi took the lead as he walked into a random direction, his planning did only go from preparation until entering the building, after that it would be freestyle. As the two walked through the hallways of this old building, Atsushi looked around him, swinging that flashlight around as he checked every corner, hoping to see something but so far, nothing yet.</p><p>Issay casually looked around, taking in the sight of the inside of this building rather than looking for something that could not be explained. Atsushi eventually tried to open a door, succeeding without any casualties.</p><p>“Hm, they really didn’t close anything on the inside,” Atsushi spoke as he walked inside. Issay simply followed him in, leaving the door open behind him, in this building it did not matter anyway.</p><p>“Seems like this was one of the hospital rooms, it smells terrible in here,” Atsushi then said as he noticed a few old hospital beds were still there.</p><p>“It sure does,” Issay agreed, he had never smelled anything this disgusting before. “Is that a blood stain?” he added as he shone his flashlight onto one of the beds. A large, dark stain on top of the mattress.</p><p>“Uh, maybe?... Is that where that smell comes from?” Atsushi replied as he pointed his camera at it.</p><p>“I don’t know, it smells like there might still be a decaying body somewhere in this room... fuck it Atsushi-kun, let’s get out of here before we catch something,” Issay suggested as he started to get a headache.</p><p>“Yes you're right, this is- oh shit!” Atsushi said loudly, startled by a nearby noise. Issay heard it too and both men immediately focused their flashlights into the direction where that noise came from. A small box seemed to have fallen off of one of the high shelves.</p><p>“How is that possible?!” Atsushi asked as he stared at the box.</p><p>“Probably just a rat, wouldn't be surprised in this place. Let’s leave now,” Issay said again, grabbing Atsushi by his wrist to drag him out of the room. As they left, Issay kicked the door shut behind him, hoping to keep that horrible smell locked in there, yet it had already gotten stuck in his nose, he hoped it would leave soon.</p><p>“Do you really want to stay here? This place is disgusting,” Issay asked, he would prefer to just leave right now.</p><p>“Not all rooms can be like that, and something happened there! There is something here!” Atsushi said, excited because of one fallen box.</p><p>“Yes, rodents are here, that room is heaven for rats and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is still a corpse in that room somewhere,” Issay returned, upset by the idea of it.</p><p>“Let’s just walk around a bit more, if it really becomes too much we can always leave. We have only been here for like, ten minutes now,” Atsushi said, understanding why Issay would want to go, but at the same time still too curious to give up already.</p><p>Issay sighed, “fine.” As Atsushi started to walk, Issay followed him again, randomly walking into another direction. Within a short time, they reached a large area, several couches stood against the walls and wooden tables and chairs were present all over the place.</p><p>“A meeting area?” Atsushi questioned, looking around the room as he also noticed some sort of check in desk.</p><p>“Seems like it, at least there is no rotting smell here,” Issay commented, that smell had still not completely left him yet, but it had gotten less bad at least.</p><p>“Oh, look at that,” Atsushi said as he walked over to one of the tables, there was still a shogi board here, the pieces were placed in such a way that it looked like it was still an ongoing game.</p><p>“They must have played that right before the shut down,” Issay mentioned, surprised that the game was left untouched.</p><p>The two men eventually walked away from this table to take a good look at the rest of the room, but as they had set only one step, one of the shogi pieces flew off the board, falling off the table and hitting the ground.</p><p>“How did that happen?” Issay asked, surprised by what he just saw.</p><p>“I told you there was something here!” Atsushi replied enthusiastically, certain that it was a ghost who did this.</p><p>“Oh come on, it wasn’t a ghost,” Issay immediately returned, still unwilling to believe it.</p><p>“Then how would you explain it, Mister Logic? It sure wasn’t a rat this time!”</p><p>“Well...” Issay started, trying to come up with an explanation, but failing to get one.</p><p>“You don’t know either! Then how can you say I’m wrong?!” Atsushi said, frustrated by Issay’s endless denial.</p><p>“Okay fine, until I come up with something I’m giving you this one,” Issay replied, letting Atsushi have his way for now as he could not explain what had just happened anyway. The two men grew quiet for a minute, both staring at the shogi piece lying on the floor as they were trying to decide whether or not to pick it up.</p><p>“Ah!” Atsushi eventually screamed, startled, as he stepped closer to Issay.</p><p>“What is it?” Issay asked, looking at the younger man next to him.</p><p>“I uh... I thought I saw someone,” Atsushi answered, shining his flashlight into a corner of the room.</p><p>“There is nothing there,” Issay mentioned as he looked as well.</p><p>“I really saw something though!” Atsushi exclaimed, he was sure of it.</p><p>“Well, is it on camera?” Issay asked, remembering that the younger man was filming it all.</p><p>“Let me check,” Atsushi replied as he stopped filming to check his recording with Issay, however, it sadly did not show anything.</p><p>“Maybe you just imagined it.”</p><p>“I’m not crazy! I know what I saw!” Atsushi replied, annoyed that Issay would not believe him. Before Issay could say anything in reply, a knock sounded from the wooden table, startling Atsushi again, causing him to bump against Issay, who instinctively pulled his free arm around the younger man.</p><p>“What was that?” Atsushi asked as he stood with his full body against Issay.</p><p>“Um, I don’t know, but... are you already scared?” Issay teased as Atsushi stuck to him.</p><p>“What? No! of course not,” Atsushi replied as he slightly stepped away from the older man, Issay retreated his arm as Atsushi did so.</p><p>“Mhm, sure,” Issay commented with a smile on his face, teasing the younger man a bit more.</p><p>“I’m not scared! I was just... surprised,” Atsushi said, unwilling to admit that he was indeed scared.</p><p>“Sure, you nearly jumped on top of me,” Issay replied, laughing slightly.</p><p>“I didn’t! I just...” Atsushi tried to come up with an excuse, but he could not think of anything.</p><p>Issay continued to softly laugh, “it’s okay to be scared Atsushi-kun,” he said as he pulled one arm around the younger man’s shoulder.</p><p>“I’m not...” Atsushi said again as he turned to look Issay straight into his eyes. Both men grew quiet as they stared at each other, their faces slowly getting closer to each other, and soon, their lips touched. Eyes closed, the two men eventually parted their lips and entered each other’s mouths, sharing a deep kiss in the darkness of this building.</p><p>Once they eventually pulled apart, they quickly looked each other in the eye, both of them obviously shocked as their eyes were wide open and a blush was present on their cheeks, they soon looked away from each other.</p><p>“Uh... let’s move on,” Atsushi then said as he started walking again. Issay did not answer, he simply followed the younger man. Both their heartbeats had sped up and a slight blush was present on their cheeks. Yet, whether it was the slight tension of these strange occurrences, or because of what had just happened between them… maybe it was both.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the two men walked through the hallways, hesitant to enter another room as they still somewhat remembered the rotting smell of the hospital room, Atsushi seemed to notice something on the stairway as he stopped walking to focus his flashlight and camera onto it.</p><p>“What is it?” Issay asked, wondering why Atsushi had stopped.</p><p>“I saw a shadow,” Atsushi answered, still staring at that same spot.</p><p>“Again?” Issay commented, unimpressed as Atsushi had already claimed to have seen someone not that long ago.</p><p>“Don’t tell me you didn’t see it again!” Atsushi replied as he got a bit closer to the stairway.</p><p>“I didn’t, It was probably just your own shadow, or maybe mine,” Issay said, looking for a logical explanation.</p><p>“this place is dark, I saw that shadow while there was no light on it and once I noticed it it just left.”</p><p>“Left?” Issay repeated, surprised that he used that specific word instead of something like ‘disappeared’.</p><p>“Yes, it moved away quickly,” Atsushi explained as he was sure of what he had seen.</p><p>“Then it was probably just something upstairs, let’s take a look,” Issay suggested, wanting to prove the younger man that it was not a ghost. The two men walked up the stairs, reaching the second floor of this building, they looked around but saw nothing that could explain a shadow in the stairway.</p><p>“There is nothing in this hall, it could not have been anything here, there isn’t even any light coming in from outside, so it must have been a ghost,” Atsushi said, not the slightest sign of doubt on his face nor in his voice.</p><p>Issay sighed, he still did not want to believe the ghost stories, “it was probably just your imagination then.”</p><p>“Are you still saying I’m crazy?!” Atsushi returned, feeling somewhat offended.</p><p>“I didn’t say that, but you came here to see something specific, you expect to see it and you hope to see it, in that case your mind might be showing you these things even though they aren’t really here.”</p><p>“You only say that because you didn’t see it, maybe you should try to open your eyes,” Atsushi replied, annoyed that the older man would not just believe him already.</p><p>“Did you manage to film it this time?” Issay asked, wondering if the camera caught anything.</p><p>“I don’t know, I’ll check again,” Atsushi said as he stopped filming to view the tape. “No, it doesn’t show anything, I must have been too late,” he added as he put the camera back to filming mode. He was sad to have missed it again, this was already the second failure of capturing evidence.</p><p>“Let’s just move on alright? Let’s not spend more time here than we have to,” Issay now said, still wanting to leave as soon as possible.</p><p>“You don’t have to stay here, just go if you want to,” Atsushi returned, he did not want Issay to leave as he did not want to be alone here, yet he also did not want to force him to stay if he did not want to be here, it had gotten somewhat awkward between them ever since their moment in the meeting hall downstairs anyway.</p><p>“I’m not leaving you alone here, I just don’t want to end up finding a corpse, this place has clearly not been cleaned after it shut down,” Issay commented. Atsushi was relieved that he stayed with him.</p><p>“They would not actually leave a corpse behind in here, the place might still be gross but I really don’t believe they would leave a body laying around... they always buried them in the backyard after all, and if not, the police definitely investigated the place before,” Atsushi mentioned, giving Issay some information he did not know yet.</p><p>“Wait a minute, they buried them in the backyard?!”</p><p>“Yes, when a patient died they would bury them in the backyard, that’s why there is that big area behind the building, you know with that fence around it.”</p><p>“I thought that was just the outside area, where they could get some fresh air.”</p><p>“Yes, it was a backyard after all, you can still see the path that could be walked, but apparently they buried dead patients between the greens.”</p><p>“Right... did they even get a proper burial?” Issay asked, now actually curious.</p><p>“Probably not, this place was not said to be very humane, you heard about the experiments right?”</p><p>“That they experimented on the patients? I have heard something about that, yes.”</p><p>“Well, if they did that, which was said to often be the cause of death of these patients, then I’d imagine they would not really care about how to dispose of them,” Atsushi commented, feeling sad as he thought of how things used to be here.</p><p>“That is fucked up, they were supposed to get help in this place, yet it must have been hell to them,” Issay replied to which Atsushi nodded, they now shared that same sadness.</p><p>“Yes it’s-… what was that?” Atsushi asked as he heard a noise from within one of the rooms on the second floor, “did you hear that too?”</p><p>“I did, yes, that was weird indeed,” Issay agreed as he walked over to the room that noise seemed to have come from and opened the door. Atsushi had his light and camera fixed on that room as the door opened, yet as he was able to look inside the room, there seemed to be nothing strange going on.</p><p>“What could that have been?” Issay asked, walking into the room but not seeing anything that could have made a noise like what they just heard in here.</p><p>“It kinda sounded like a voice if you ask me,” Atsushi replied as he followed the older man inside.</p><p>“… That would make no sense, but I can’t deny that it indeed sounded like that,” Issay admitted, this was strange, but…</p><p>“See? There has to be something here!” Atsushi then said, excited, yet also a little bit afraid.</p><p>“Maybe it was just somebody outside,” Issay returned, trying to find a logical explanation again.</p><p>“Oh come on! It clearly came from in here!” Atsushi replied, now annoyed that the older man was always trying to bust his ghost theories.</p><p>“It sounded like it did, yes, but…” Issay could not believe that a voice would have actually sounded from in here, “maybe it was just the wind coming through somewhere, this place is old so that is possible, might also explain that fallen shogi piece.”</p><p>“You really refuse to be open minded huh? Why would only one piece fall if it was the wind? Wouldn’t we have felt it then? And what about that knock?”</p><p>“Well you refuse to think logically, there is probably an explanation for all of it,” Issay returned as the two men started to get annoyed with each other yet again.</p><p>“What will it take to prove it to you?!” Atsushi then asked, desperation present in his voice.</p><p>“A lot, something extremely weird has to happen, something that really can’t be explained, before I am willing to believe in ghosts. But since when is it your goal to make me believe? That’s not what you took me along for, right?”</p><p>“Well, no, but...” Atsushi did not know what to say.</p><p>“Why did you ask me along anyway?” Issay now asked, wondering why Atsushi did not just go alone.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Well, if you just wanted to capture some proof on camera you could have gone alone,” Issay clarified, unsure of what his own purpose was supposed to be.</p><p>“You really don’t want to be here huh?” Atsushi returned, slightly misunderstanding what the older man meant.</p><p>“Well, I don’t mean it like that, I just seem to be more in the way rather than anything else, so I wonder why you didn’t just go alone.”</p><p>“You are not in the way, I just didn’t want to go alone.”</p><p>“Scared?”</p><p>“Not scared! Just uncomfortable, this is not a place where fun things happened after all,” Atsushi replied, in all honesty, he was indeed scared to be here on his own, but Issay did not need to know that, yet the older man already suspected enough.</p><p>“So, you came here with a camera to capture proof right? Why do you want to prove it so much anyway?” Issay asked, wondering what the reason was for Atsushi’s obsession with ghosts.</p><p>“Well... I just- Ah!” Atsushi screamed as he suddenly jumped back and bumped into Issay again, who, just like before, instinctively caught the younger man in his arms.</p><p>“What happened?” Issay asked, surprised.</p><p>“I swear something touched me!” Atsushi said, looking around the room as he stayed close to the older man.</p><p>“… Really?” Issay asked, this was hard for him to believe.</p><p>“I wouldn’t lie about that!” Atsushi exclaimed, frustrated and now obviously scared.</p><p>“Alright, what did you feel?”</p><p>“It was like, somebody hit my shoulder from behind. It actually kinda burns now.”</p><p>“What? Let me see,” Issay said as he turned Atsushi around to get behind him, he took Atsushi’s backpack off of him and carried it on his own back as he removed the younger man’s coat, he tried to see what was wrong, but Atsushi was wearing a long sleeved, black, turtle neck shirt, nothing could be seen like this.</p><p>“Can you take your shirt off for a second?” Issay asked. Atsushi placed his flashlight and camera on a nearby table to free his hands, he then simply took his shirt off as Issay brushed the younger man his long hair aside to check his shoulder, he shone his light onto Atsushi’s skin to get a better look.</p><p>“Oh my god,” Issay commented as he looked at Atsushi’s shoulder.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Did you feel that here?” Issay asked as he carefully placed his hand on the younger man’s right shoulder blade.</p><p>“Yes, how do you know?”</p><p>“There is a red handprint there.”</p><p>“What?! Are you fucking with me?!” Atsushi then asked, hoping this was just a joke.</p><p>“No I…” Issay grabbed the camera from the table and filmed Atsushi’s shoulder, he then stopped the recording function to show the younger man what his shoulder looked like. A very clear, red, hand shaped print could be seen right where Atsushi felt that hit before.</p><p>Atsushi stood there in silence as he watched the screen, he could not believe what he saw. As Issay turned the camera off and put it back in Atsushi’s bag, the younger man screamed out again, louder this time.</p><p>“What?” Issay asked, wondering what it was this time, and afraid of the possibilities.</p><p>“Again, it felt like a scratch this time,” Atsushi said as he grabbed his flashlight, checking behind him.</p><p>With his back towards Issay, the older man shone his light onto Atsushi again, and as he did so he slowly saw three, large, red stripes appear on the younger man his back, diagonally going down from the top right of his shoulder, near the handprint, down to the left side of the bottom of his back, ending right above the rim of his pants.</p><p>“That is fucking insane, we are leaving, now!” Issay said as he put the bag on his own back again and grabbed Atsushi by his arm, dragging him along to the door. Issay pushed Atsushi out of the room first before he stepped through the door frame himself, and as he did so, he felt something pull his hair, startled he turned around and quickly threw the door shut.</p><p>“What happened?” Atsushi asked, noticing that Issay placed a hand on his head as he stared at the door.</p><p>“Something pulled my hair,” Issay replied as he walked over to where Atsushi stood.</p><p>“Okay well I have seen enough, let’s leave,” Atsushi commented as he put his shirt back on, now actually too afraid to stay here. He then took his coat back from Issay and put it on again, it was cold here.</p><p>“Best idea I’ve heard from you in a while,” Issay replied as he grabbed the younger man by his hand, “I don’t want to lose you along the way, come on.” With quick steps, Issay dragged Atsushi along to the stairs, quickly, yet carefully, descending them as he tried to find the window they came in through.</p><p>“Which window was it again?” Issay asked as he started to feel lost.</p><p>“Uh… one that lets light through at the edges,” Atsushi replied, looking at the boarded up windows as well, but he was not even sure if this was the right part of the building.</p><p>“Fuck are we lost?!” Issay then asked, becoming very frustrated.</p><p>“Don’t worry, we’ll find it eventually, we might just be at the wrong side of the building,” Atsushi mentioned as they passed by another staircase. A loud sound could suddenly be heard coming from above as something seemed to fall down the stairs, that something crashed into Atsushi just as he stood at the bottom of that staircase.</p><p>“Fuck!” Atsushi screamed as he lost his balance, now letting go of the older man’s hand, yet Issay was luckily quick to catch him. As Atsushi tried to stand he felt a harsh pain in this leg, he sank to the floor and checked his ankle, shining his flashlight onto it and noticing a deep cut. As Atsushi wondered what had caused it he looked at the item that had fallen down the stairs.</p><p>“A wheelchair? How does that just come down the stairs?” Atsushi asked, terrified as this was already the third physical attack towards him personally.</p><p>“I don’t know, but we are not welcome here, we need to get out, can you stand?” Issay asked the younger man who was still sitting on the floor, his leg was bleeding.</p><p>Atsushi tried to get up but the pain soon brought him back down. “Fuck, no, this really hurts,” he replied as he noticed that his ankle was also starting to swell up, he might have misstepped when he fell.</p><p>“Well we can’t stay here,” Issay commented as he got an idea, he took the bag off of him, turned off his flashlight and put it back into that bag before handing it to Atsushi. “Take that and get on my back, I’ll carry you.”</p><p>“What?” the younger man asked, he was not sure what to do.</p><p>“No questions, just get on, I want to leave.”</p><p>“Alright alright,” Atsushi replied as he put the bag on his back and managed to climb onto the older man’s back. Arms hooked underneath Atsushi’s knees, Issay carried the younger man through the building, quickly trying to find an exit. He was glad that Atsushi had decided to not bring too much along, the bag almost added no weight to what he had to carry now, Atsushi himself was luckily not too heavy either.</p><p>“Must be that one!” Issay eventually said, spotting light coming through one of the wooden plates in a window frame. As he walked over to it he carefully put the younger man onto the floor. Atsushi stood there on one leg as he leaned against the wall while Issay started to fidget with the boarding, but it did not move.</p><p>“How did you open this?!” Issay asked as he somewhat violently tried to get that board loose.</p><p>“Let me try,” Atsushi returned as he moved closer to the window, he started to fidget with it like he did before, but for some reason the board seemed to be stuck.</p><p>“Okay step aside, I have an idea,” Issay commented as he had enough already and just wanted to get out more than anything. As Atsushi stepped away from the window, Issay jammed his foot into the wood, trying to break the boarding as he repeatedly kicked against it. After a few kicks, Issay managed to break off a piece of the wood, which caused the rest to get loose as well. He removed the board before he took the bag from Atsushi again, placing it on the floor.</p><p>“You go first,” the older man said as he helped Atsushi to climb through that gap. Once he was outside, Issay handed him the bag and climbed out himself as well. As Issay got out, Atsushi had already put his flashlight back into the bag, with the streetlights up further he did not need it anymore. Atsushi then climbed back onto Issay’s back and the two returned to the car, driving back to Atsushi's apartment.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Fear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the two men arrived at Atsushi’s apartment building again, Issay decided to keep carrying the younger man on his back as Atsushi’s leg still hurt. As they stood in front of the apartment door, Atsushi got off of the older man’s back. Still leaning against Issay, who held him close, Atsushi reached into his pocket, taking out his key and opening the front door.</p><p>Issay helped him to walk inside and once there, Atsushi sat down on the floor to take off his shoes, Issay did so too. Issay then picked the younger man up in his arms and carried him inside the living area, carefully placing him down onto the couch.</p><p>“How is your leg?” Issay asked as he sat down next to Atsushi.</p><p>The younger man pulled the leg of his pants up, revealing his ankle which was swollen, bruised and covered in blood on and around that cut, “Well… it hurts,” Atsushi answered as he tried to carefully move his foot. “But it’s not broken.”</p><p>“That’s something at least, do you have a first aid kit around here?” the older man then asked.</p><p>“Yes, in the bathroom,” Atsushi answered, and thus Issay stood up and went into the younger man’s bathroom, soon finding what he was looking for. He then returned to the couch.</p><p>“Shall I do it?” Issay asked, referring to Atsushi his wound, Atsushi simply nodded in reply.</p><p>Issay sat down on his knees in front of the younger man, he first cleaned Atsushi's ankle, making sure it would not get infected. The cleaning hurt but Atsushi tried not to show it, Issay did notice it however. As Issay eventually put a bandage around the younger man's ankle, he stood up and brought the first aid kit back to where he got it from before he returned to the couch, sitting down next to Atsushi again.</p><p>“Um, I’ll go then,” the older man said after they had been sitting there in silence for a while, but as he was about to stand up, Atsushi quickly grabbed his wrist, causing Issay to stay seated on that couch. Issay looked over to the man next to him, confused.</p><p>“Could you… uh… stay here, tonight?” Atsushi asked, unable to look Issay in the eye.</p><p>“Why?” Issay asked in return, the younger man had not yet let go of his wrist, but he did not mind it.</p><p>“Um…” Atsushi did not know how to answer this question, he just wanted Issay to stay with him, for more than just one reason.</p><p>“Are you scared?” Issay asked, he expected Atsushi to deny it, but it took a while before the younger man replied.</p><p>“… Yes,” Atsushi confessed, he was scared, it was one of the reasons he wanted Issay to stay.</p><p>Issay smiled as he shook his wrist loose from Atsushi and pulled his arm around the younger man, shifting closer to him.</p><p>“It’s okay to be,” Issay commented as he held Atsushi, who in response rested his head against the older man’s shoulder, which Issay simply allowed.</p><p>“But…” Atsushi started, trying to say something that did not easily come out.</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“That’s not, uh...” Atsushi tried again, thinking of how to say this while Issay simply waited for him to finish his sentence. “It’s not… did it mean anything to you?” Atsushi eventually asked, changing what he was originally trying to say.</p><p>“What?” Issay replied, unsure of what the younger man was talking about.</p><p>“Um… back in that meeting hall, when we uh…” Atsushi replied, almost a whisper, but Issay could now see what he meant.</p><p>“Are you talking about that kiss?” Issay asked, looking for confirmation.</p><p>“… Yes,” Atsushi replied, he could hear the older man’s heartbeat speed up, yet he could feel his own doing the same, just like back then.</p><p>Issay went quiet for a moment before he spoke, “did it to you?” he asked in return, avoiding the question.</p><p>“I asked you first,” Atsushi reminded, sitting back up and daring to look the older man in the eye. Issay simply nodded in reply as he looked back. The two men were drawn to each other again, like magnets as their lips connected once again, their tongues meeting once again, and their eyes closing once again as they got lost in the moment. It took a while before they broke apart, yet their faces remained close to each other.</p><p>“Stay?” Atsushi asked again, remembering that Issay had not yet answered his request to stay with him tonight.</p><p>“I will,” Issay replied, and to that Atsushi kissed him again, deeply, long, lovingly, before they truly broke apart.</p><p>“How is your back?” Issay asked, wondering whether the print and scratches have gotten better or worse, or if they had maybe completely disappeared already.</p><p>“I don’t know, my shoulder feels somewhat sore, and my back only hurts when I move too much,” Atsushi replied.</p><p>“Uh, could you show me again?” Issay asked, wanting to see it again.</p><p>“Sure,” Atsushi simply answered as he took his shirt off and moved his back towards the older man. The handprint was no longer red, but bruises had started to appear where it used to be, still somewhat shaped like a hand. And the scratches on his back had started to get thicker, those would probably be very visible in the morning.</p><p>“Is there still anything there?” the younger man asked.</p><p>“I’ll uh… where did you leave your bag?” Issay asked in return, wanting to take a picture with Atsushi’s camera.</p><p>“I left it in the hall,” Atsushi said in reply, and thus Issay stood up to go get it. “If you go there anyway, could you lock the front door? I left the key somewhere on the floor as well,” Atsushi added.</p><p>“Sure,” Issay replied as he entered the hallway. He soon found the bag, but was more looking for the key first. He soon found that as well and locked the main door, leaving the key in the keyhole as he grabbed the bag and went back to the couch.</p><p>He put the bag on top of the salon table as he took out the camera, turning it on to take a photo of the younger man’s back, he then showed that picture to Atsushi.</p><p>“Oh my god, it’s that bad?” Atsushi asked as he looked at it, he was shocked by what he saw, he had not expected it to be like that.</p><p>“Yeah it’s... just insane, I don’t get how this is even possible,” Issay replied. Atsushi had nothing to say to that as he took the camera from Issay, unable to stop looking at the picture as it was almost unreal. Issay carefully ran his hand along the younger man's back, feeling the scratches, the thickness of it, the swelling of the bruises where that handprint was. It was crazy how something like this could have happened.</p><p>“Do you have a logical explanation for this?” Atsushi asked the older man, looking him in the eye, but Issay only shook his head in reply. He surely had no explanation for this, it made no sense, but it did make Issay believe that there was indeed something in that building, and that something was not friendly.</p><p>“Does it hurt when I touch it?” Issay eventually asked, he was still feeling the injuries.</p><p>“A bit,” Atsushi replied, to which Issay removed his hand.</p><p>“Oh, sorry,” Issay said, he did not mean to hurt the younger man.</p><p>“No, it’s fine, it’s not that bad,” Atsushi replied, secretly somewhat sad to have lost physical contact with the older man.</p><p>“Ah… do you like it when I touch you?” Issay then teased, smiling as Atsushi looked away from him without answering, making his long hair cover his face.</p><p>“Hm, I’ll take that as a yes then,” Issay added as Atsushi remained silent. He placed his hand on the bare skin of the younger man’s, undamaged, left shoulder, next he moved his free hand towards Atsushi’s face, making him look at him with a gentle push, revealing the blush on Atsushi’s cheeks, previously hidden underneath that curtain of hair, which caused Issay to smile more. Issay could now also feel the warmth on Atsushi's face.</p><p>“You are cute,” Issay commented as he stared straight into the younger man’s eyes. To that, Atsushi’s face became even more red and his cheeks grew warmer. Atsushi tried to hold back his smile, but it showed anyway, Issay loved the effect he had on the younger man.</p><p>“Do you want to go to sleep, or…?” Issay then asked as he removed both his hands from the younger man’s body. It was three in the morning right now, but since both men had slept in the afternoon due to their plans for this night, neither of them were actually tired, and the adrenalin from their experience has not given them any will to sleep yet.</p><p>“No, I’m not tired,” Atsushi replied, he was secretly scared to go to sleep now, what if anything would happen?</p><p>“Neither am I. So… would you want to…” Issay continued, he did not finish his sentence, but Atsushi knew where he was going with it as the older man ran his hand over Atsushi’s thigh, looking at it as he did so.</p><p>“Yes,” Atsushi replied, he wanted Issay and he wanted him now.</p><p>“Bedroom?” Issay then asked, removing his hand as he looked Atsushi in the eye.</p><p>“Yes,” Atsushi replied again, the bed would be more comfortable, and thus he had just enough patience to wait for that.</p><p>Issay stood up and opened the door to the bedroom, he then picked Atsushi up from the couch, carrying the younger man in his arms as he entered the bedroom with him, softly placing him down onto the mattress before closing the door again. Issay then got onto the bed as well, sitting on his knees in between the younger man's legs as Atsushi lay down on his back. Issay bent over to kiss him again, deeply, as the younger man pulled his arms around Issay’s neck, moving one hand through the older man’s hair.</p><p>Issay wondered if it hurt Atsushi to lie on those injuries, but the younger man would probably say so if that was the case, so he decided not to mention it, he did not wish to ruin the mood after all. And besides that, the mattress was soft, so it was probably not that bad.</p><p>As Issay pulled away, he moved on to Atsushi’s neck, moving Atsushi’s long hair aside in order to kiss and lick his skin. Atsushi moaned softly, tugging at Issay’s shirt, Issay sat up to take his shirt off and to toss it onto the ground before he resumed what he was doing while the younger man massaged his back, running his fingers all over his bare skin.</p><p>Issay soon moved lower, licking and sucking on one of Atsushi’s nipples while the younger man moved his hand up, going through Issay’s hair. Issay used one hand to play with Atsushi’s other nipple before switching. The older man then moved even lower, reaching the rim of Atsushi’s pants. Upon reaching that, he noticed the bulge in Atsushi’s pants, Issay himself had already gotten quite hard in the meantime as well.</p><p>Issay brought his face down onto Atsushi’s covered erection, feeling the hardness against his lips before he sat back up. As he had eye contact with Atsushi, he started to open the younger man his pants, sliding them down his legs before he took them off of him and tossed them onto the floor. He then placed his hand on top of the crotch area of Atsushi’s underwear, brushing his fingers over Atsushi’s still covered, hard penis, causing the younger man to let out a desperate moan, he wanted more.</p><p>Issay slid Atsushi’s underwear down, taking it off of him and throwing it aside. He then wrapped his fingers around Atsushi’s erection as he started to stroke him, occasionally brushing his thumb over the tip. Atsushi used one hand to play with his own nipple, moaning as he enjoyed the way he was being touched by the older man. Issay palmed the bulge in his own pants with his free hand as he watched Atsushi tease himself.</p><p>Issay eventually brought his face back down, he took Atsushi’s cock into his mouth and slowly started to suck him, bobbing his head up and down as Atsushi moaned a bit louder.</p><p>“Issay…” Atsushi eventually said, to which the older man looked up at him, continuing to suck him.</p><p>“Please… fuck me,” Atsushi added with a moan even louder. To this, Issay removed the younger man’s dick from his mouth and stared at him.</p><p>“Uh…” was all Issay gave as a reply, he did not really know what to do. Atsushi just looked at him, waiting for anything to happen.</p><p>“Please,” Atsushi repeated as he noticed that Issay was not doing anything.</p><p>“Right, uh… do you have lube? Condoms?” the older man then asked.</p><p>“No,” Atsushi answered, he did not have anything at the moment, but he just really wanted to try it.</p><p>“Are you sure then?”</p><p>“Issay, please,” Atsushi said again, he was starting to get frustrated with the hold up, but all Issay did was look down, he was clearly unsure of what to do. Atsushi did not have the patience anymore, and that soon became clear.</p><p>“Fine, if you won’t do it,” Atsushi then said, he inserted his fingers into his mouth, covering them with his saliva before he reached down and started teasing his own hole. He did not care what Issay would think of it, he just needed it. As Atsushi pushed his first finger inside, moving it in and out while moaning, Issay opened his pants, pulling them down together with his underwear to free his erection. He then took it all off, leaving the both of them completely naked.</p><p>As Issay looked back over at Atsushi, he noticed that the younger man had already inserted a second finger, scissoring himself open. Atsushi had also started to stroke himself with his free hand, putting up a whole show for Issay to watch. As Issay watched the younger man play with himself, he decided to do the same as he waited for him to be ready, stroking himself in sync with Atsushi.</p><p>A little while later, Atsushi inserted a third finger, moving them in and out as he curled them inside of himself, letting a loud moan escape his mouth every time he managed to touch his prostate.</p><p>“Have you done this before?” the older man asked.</p><p>“Hm, I sometimes… do this,” Atsushi admitted, removing his fingers from his anus, “would’ve preferred you to do it though.”</p><p>“Right, I’m sorry, I was afraid to hurt you even more.”</p><p>“So you disappoint me instead?”</p><p>“Well, I can make up for that… you want me to fuck you, right?” Issay asked, willing to do it.</p><p>“Yes, please,” Atsushi replied, he could not wait any longer. Issay spit on his hand and covered his own erection with his saliva, it was better than nothing. He then carefully inserted his cock into the younger man’s ass, they both moaned as he did so.</p><p>“Oh fuck that’s tight,” Issay commented as he pushed himself in deeper. Atsushi could only moan in reply.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Issay asked as he stayed still.</p><p>“Yes, please move,” Atsushi requested, and so Issay did, slowly moving his hips back and forth as they both moaned. As Atsushi’s body seemed to adjust to the situation, Issay started to move faster, hitting Atsushi’s walls harder and eventually managing to hit the younger man’s prostate, drawing a loud moan out of Atsushi. Issay knew enough, he made sure to keep hitting that spot over and over as Atsushi wrapped his arms around Issay, digging his nails into the older man’s back.</p><p>After some more thrusting, moaning and scratching, Issay eventually felt Atsushi’s walls tightening around him as the younger man arched his back, and nearly immediately, the loudest moan yet came from Atsushi as he released his load all over Issay and himself. Issay came shortly after as well, right inside of Atsushi before he pulled out.</p><p>“Was that also a disappointment?” Issay asked as he grabbed some tissues off of Atsushi’s nightstand.</p><p>“Not at all, you sure made up for before,” Atsushi replied as he let Issay clean the cum off of him. The older man then stood up to dispose of the tissues before he crawled back into bed.</p><p>“Shower in the morning I guess?” Issay asked, it was slightly past 3:30 in the morning now and since the shock of the strange night, and now also the last, interesting, half an hour had subsided, the two men ended up being quite tired.</p><p>“Yes, I’m exhausted,” Atsushi replied as he had already closed his eyes. Issay decided to rest his head on top of Atsushi’s chest as he pulled the covers over them, soon falling asleep together.</p><p>--</p><p>A sudden feeling of rapid movement along with a faint sobbing woke Issay up, Atsushi had just awoken and as he rapidly sat up, he had accidentally pushed Issay off of him.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” Issay asked as he sat up as well, but Atsushi did not answer, it did seem like the younger man was staring at something though.</p><p>“What do you see?” Issay then asked, wondering what Atsushi was staring at, but he stayed silent. Atsushi did, however, point his finger at the corner of the room, but Issay did not see anything. Worried about what was going on, Issay decided to turn on a light, causing both men to be blinded for a few seconds.</p><p>“Acchan, there is nothing there,” Issay eventually said as he pulled an arm around the younger man.</p><p>“There was a shadow, before you turned on the light. It looked just like the one I saw in that building.”</p><p>“Maybe you were still half asleep? It surely would not have followed us,” Issay commented, trying to reassure Atsushi.</p><p>“But what if it did?!” Atsushi returned as he looked at Issay, he was not reassured, instead he was slightly in panic. Issay could now see the tear stains on Atsushi’s cheeks.</p><p>“Have you been crying?” Issay asked as he wiped the remains off of Atsushi’s face.</p><p>“Ah, yeah, I woke up like this, had a nightmare.”</p><p>“Want to talk about it?”</p><p>“Hm, I just dreamt that I was back at that building, but alone this time and everything was even worse,” Atsushi explained, he did not really want to think about it though.</p><p>“That could explain why you thought you saw something when you woke up, maybe you weren’t fully awake yet?” Issay suggested, despite everything he still looked for a logical explanation.</p><p>“… Maybe, you really didn’t see anything?” Atsushi asked in return, wondering if he had just imagined it this time, he would honestly prefer that over it having been real for now.</p><p>“I really did not see anything, and I did look,” Issay replied, he was sure of it.</p><p>“Alright, you are probably right, sorry for waking you up.”</p><p>“Don’t apologize for that, it’s not your fault,” Issay returned with a smile, after all that had happened he did not expect a calm night anyway.</p><p>“Get some more sleep,” Atsushi said as he was about to get out of bed.</p><p>“Where are you going?”</p><p>“I won’t be able to sleep anyway, I think I’m going to take a shower,” Atsushi explained, hesitant to stand up.</p><p>“Want me to join you?” Issay asked, he could use a shower as well anyway.</p><p>“Don’t you need to sleep?” Atsushi asked in return, he did not want to keep Issay up if he was tired.</p><p>“I won’t be able to sleep when I know that you are troubled, we can sleep later anyway, right?” Issay replied as he positioned himself next to Atsushi. “And besides that, can you even get to the bathroom alone?”</p><p>“Maybe,” Atsushi answered, remembering the wound on his ankle. He could probably walk if he had to, but it would be painful.</p><p>Issay then stood up, “wait here,” he said as he walked away to open the bedroom and bathroom doors, he then returned and picked Atsushi up in his arms, carrying him into the bathroom.</p><p>Once in the shower, Issay put Atsushi down on the shower chair as he offered to wash the younger man. Atsushi accepted the offer despite finding it somewhat embarrassing, yet at the same time he enjoyed the sensation of Issay’s hands running all through his hair and over his body, everywhere, without any exceptions.</p><p>Issay then washed himself as well while Atsushi simply watched. As the two were clean, they dried themselves off. Atsushi then put his hair in a towel and put on a bathrobe, he had more than one so he offered one to Issay as well, who accepted it. Issay then replaced the bandages around Atsushi’s ankle with new, clean ones before he picked the younger man up again and carried him to the living room, placing him down onto the couch.</p><p>“Could you get some water for me?” Atsushi asked, his throat felt dry.</p><p>“Of course” Issay replied as he walked into the kitchen, filling two glasses with water, which he then brought to the salon table, placing them down as he sat down on the couch next to Atsushi.</p><p>“Thank you,” Atsushi said as he picked up his glass.</p><p>“You’re welcome,” Issay simply replied as he drank as well.</p><p>“Shall I comb your hair?” Issay eventually asked as they both finished their drinks and placed their empty glasses back down.</p><p>“Sure, the comb is in the bathroom,” Atsushi replied as he removed the towel from his head, and thus Issay went to get the comb, bringing that towel along to throw it in the wash bin. As he returned he sat back down next to Atsushi, who shifted to turn his back to Issay, allowing the older man to comb his long hair. As Issay finished, he placed the comb down onto the salon table, too lazy to bring it back to the bathroom.</p><p>As Atsushi noticed that Issay had finished doing his hair, he shifted closer to Issay, who in response pulled his arm around the younger man’s shoulder, letting Atsushi rest against him.</p><p>“You are tired, aren’t you?” Issay asked.</p><p>“Yes, but I don’t want to sleep, I won’t stop you from going back to bed though.”</p><p>“I’m staying right here with you,” Issay returned. He knew that Atsushi was afraid and he did not want to leave him alone in this room.</p><p>“We could turn on some music, to have at least some sound in the background, maybe that will help a bit?” Issay suggested, the uncomfortable silence was surely not helping.</p><p>“Yes, that sounds like a fine plan, why don’t you pick something?” Atsushi replied as he pointed at a small closet, Issay stood up and opened it, revealing quite a collection of CD’s.</p><p>“Oh, you have enough to pick from for sure,” Issay commented as he took a good look at all of it. “This is nice,” he eventually said as he picked out one of the albums. Issay then inserted the disk into the CD player, turning it on before he sat back down onto the couch, resuming his position against Atsushi as they just listened to the music.</p><p>After several songs, Issay realized that Atsushi had fallen asleep. Despite his will to stay awake, the younger man could not fight his fatigue. Issay carefully shifted away from him, making sure to not wake him, before he picked Atsushi up from the couch and carried him into the bedroom. Issay placed Atsushi back down onto the bed, managing to remove the bathrobe from the younger man’s body before he folded it and placed it onto the floor.</p><p>Issay then went back into the living room to turn the radio off before returning to the bedroom, walking over to the other side of the bed as he removed his own bathrobe as well. He folded it and placed it onto the floor on his side before he crawled back into bed with Atsushi again, resting his head onto the younger man’s chest as he pulled the covers over them, falling asleep once again.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Evidence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Atsushi finally woke up he was somewhat confused, how did he get back into bed? He was sitting on the couch, listening to music with Issay before everything went black. Atsushi then noticed the weight on top of his chest, Issay was still asleep on top of him, but not for long as he, shortly after, woke up as well.</p><p>“Good morning,” Atsushi said as he noticed some movement.</p><p>“Good morning,” Issay returned as he looked up and smiled at the younger man.</p><p>“Did you put me back here?” Atsushi asked, suspecting that Issay would have carried him back to bed.</p><p>“Who else? You fell asleep on the couch, so I decided to carry you back here, this should be a bit more comfortable after all.”</p><p>“And you immediately decided to undress me huh?” Atsushi then commented with a mischievous smile.</p><p>“I am actually surprised that that did not wake you up, but yes, you slept naked before, so why not again?” Issay said in reply, he did simply prefer to lie against the younger man’s naked body, but he was not going to say that.</p><p>“Mhm sure, make that your excuse,” Atsushi returned jokingly, Issay simply smiled in reply, he then quickly kissed the younger man on his lips before he sat up.</p><p>“Slept well now?”</p><p>“Yes, how about you?” Atsushi returned, he felt very calm compared to earlier.</p><p>“Me as well. It’s already twelve in the afternoon huh,” Issay said as he looked over at the clock, they slept the entire morning away, which was not weird considering the busy night they have had.</p><p>“Mhm, when you sleep late, you wake late.”</p><p>“Very simple yet true logic,” Issay said as he softly smiled. “How’s your ankle?”</p><p>“Still hurts,” Atsushi answered as he moved his foot, it was not broken but something was surely damaged, it would probably heal on its own eventually.</p><p>“And your back?” Issay continued, wondering about the bruises and scratches.</p><p>”Still odd, it does not hurt much, it just feels weird,” Atsushi explained, he could not describe the weird feeling.</p><p>“Let me see what it is like now,” Issay said, causing Atsushi to sit up. Issay then moved over to look at the younger man’s back.</p><p>“Hm, the scratches are not thick anymore… it’s like you’ve been scratched by a tiger though, or any big cat. Same with the bruises, but the hand shape is still there,” Issay said as he carefully felt the injuries. “Still hurts when touched?”</p><p>“Yes, but less,” Atsushi replied, the feeling was not pleasant but it was worse before. Issay kissed the younger man on his cheek before he got out of bed and put his clothes back on. Atsushi simply grabbed the bathrobe off the floor and wore that, he did not feel like actually getting dressed.</p><p>Issay then carried Atsushi to the bathroom, making him stand on one leg as he leaned against the sink. Atsushi luckily had a spare toothbrush so both men brushed their teeth and combed their hair. Issay then picked the younger man up again and carried him to the living room. Atsushi could try to walk but he secretly enjoyed this all a bit too much. Issay himself did not mind it either, he would spoil Atsushi all day long without complaint if he had to.</p><p>As Issay placed Atsushi down onto the couch, he offered to make breakfast, Atsushi did not say no of course. They soon ate together on the couch and afterwards, Issay cleaned up. As the older man sat back down, he noticed that Atsushi seemed somewhat distant, the reason soon became clear as Atsushi yawned.</p><p>“Still tired, aren’t you?” Issay asked, it would not surprise him as he was not fully rested himself either.</p><p>“Hm, a bit,” Atsushi answered as he turned on the television, wanting some background noise as it was getting too quiet.</p><p>“You can lie down if you want to,” Issay mentioned, causing the younger man to look at him for a second before he nodded to himself and lay down, resting his head on Issay’s lap. Issay massaged Atsushi’s head, running his hand through Atsushi's hair as the younger man slowly fell asleep.</p><p>As Issay wasted his time away watching television and playing with a sleeping Atsushi his hair, the sudden ringing of the doorbell slightly startled him and woke Atsushi up. As the younger man sat up he looked over at Issay.</p><p>“Could you go see who that is?” Atsushi asked the older man as he, first of all, still only wore his bathrobe, and second of all, did not want to walk to the door because of his leg.</p><p>“Sure,” Issay simply replied as he got up from the couch and walked to the main door.</p><p>“It’s Imai, do I let him in or send him away?” Issay asked Atsushi as he stood in the door frame.</p><p>“Hm, let him in,” Atsushi answered, it was not like he was naked so as long as it was someone he knew he did not mind to let that person in. Imai soon entered the living room together with Issay, as Imai took a seat in the chair, Issay asked if he wanted anything to drink, but Imai politely refused the offer and thus Issay sat back down next to Atsushi.</p><p>“So, what brings you here?” Atsushi asked, wondering.</p><p>“Decided to check if you were still alive,” Imai said jokingly, “did you go to that place?”</p><p>“Yes we did.”</p><p>“And it was quite a mistake,” Issay added to which Atsushi quietly nodded.</p><p>“Really? how so?” Imai asked, a question addressed to both men. In response, Issay just pointed at Atsushi’s bound up ankle.</p><p>“What happened?” Imai asked as he looked at Atsushi’s leg.</p><p>“A stupid wheelchair rolled down the stairs right as I walked by and some sharp edge of it rammed into my leg,” Atsushi answered, laughing softly as he shook his head, realizing how stupid it sounded.</p><p>“Who the fuck leaves a wheelchair at the top of some stairs?”</p><p>“Well we were up there before and that thing wasn’t even near the staircase, I remember I saw it against the wall, several meters away from the stairs,” Atsushi said as he looked over at Issay.</p><p>“Yeah I saw it there too, it should not have come down the stairs,” Issay agreed, feeling uneasy as he thought about it again.</p><p>“So what? A ghost pushed it down?” Imai teased, softly laughing as he clearly refused to believe any supernatural reason.</p><p>“Got a better explanation?” Atsushi asked, annoyance in his voice as he glared at Imai.</p><p>“I don’t know, I wasn’t there, but I am not going to just go along with your weird ghost theories. Don’t you have something? You don’t believe either, right?” Imai asked Issay, remembering that he was also sceptical about it before.</p><p>“Yeah, I didn’t, but that has changed,” Issay replied, he was still likely to search for a logical explanation, but he had come to find out that not everything can be explained in a logical way.</p><p>“Seriously? Because of one wheelchair?” Imai asked, as sceptical as possible.</p><p>“No, a lot more happened in there, it was crazy!” Atsushi jumped in.</p><p>“Yeah so are you,” Hisashi returned, not really thinking about it.</p><p>“Are you calling me crazy?” Atsushi asked, getting somewhat angry.</p><p>“Oh come on, you see a ghost in your own shadow!” Imai threw out. Atsushi was about to reply to this but he was already cut off before he could even say one word.</p><p>“Okay enough!” Issay said loudly, causing both of the other men to grow quiet. “He might be quick with believing things, but he is not wrong here, it was indeed crazy in there.”</p><p>“Have you seriously been brainwashed by this bullshit?” Imai then asked, he could not believe that Issay went along with all of this now. Atsushi clicked his tongue as he was about to say something, but he remained quiet as Issay placed a hand on his thigh.</p><p>“Maybe seeing something crazy will change your mind as well,” Issay said, getting the attention from both of them.</p><p>“Try it,” Imai simply replied, he doubted that anything would change his mind as he was certain that ghosts did not exist.</p><p>“Show him your back,” Issay said to Atsushi, the strange injuries there might make anyone doubt their beliefs. As Atsushi understood what Issay meant, he slid his arms out of the sleeves of his bathrobe and let it fall down to only cover his bottom half. Issay then signed for Imai to come over and look, and thus Imai stood up and sat down at the other side of Atsushi, looking at what Issay was talking about.</p><p>“What the…” Imai said as he saw the injuries, his facial expression turned to surprise, he could not believe what he saw and thus he carefully touched the scratches and bruises. “It’s real?”</p><p>“Of course it is real! Would I really get that done just to fuck with you?!” Atsushi threw out, still annoyed.</p><p>“How would I know? You’ve been trying to prove this crap for long enough.”</p><p>“Well this sure is real, it happened at that building, he felt something touch him and as I looked I saw a red handprint here,” Issay explained as he ran his fingers over the bruises on Atsushi’s shoulder blade. “Then later something similar happened again and I actually saw these scratches appear out of nowhere,” he added as he now touched the lines on the younger man’s back.</p><p>“Okay, if everyone is done touching,” Atsushi commented as he readjusted his bathrobe to cover his body again.</p><p>“How is that possible though?” Imai asked, the injuries were clearly real, but the way Atsushi got them made no sense.</p><p>“I don’t know but that is how it happened,” Atsushi simply replied, he did not understand it himself, but his only explanation to him was a supernatural explanation.</p><p>“Well… you wanted to film there, right? Got anything recorded?” Imai asked, it was hard for him to believe that anything had really happened there, but he was also unable to explain what had happened to his friend’s back.</p><p>“We haven’t really looked at the full recording yet,” Issay replied as he stood up and grabbed the camera before he sat back down. As Atsushi sat in the middle of the couch, he was the one to hold the camera as the three of them looked at the recording together.</p><p>After they had watched it all, they were all surprised. Several shadows and strange balls of light had been caught on tape, and not the shadows that Atsushi had spotted himself, these were shadows that both Issay and Atsushi had failed to notice while they were in that building. Imai was not necessarily impressed by the this, to him, they could have been anything.</p><p>However, the footage also showed several objects moving slightly, some might have moved due to the wind the two men created as they passed by, but other objects were obviously too heavy for that, Issay and Atsushi both wondered how they could have missed that, how had that not made any noise?</p><p>As the footage reached the point of them being in that room where it all went wrong, they watched how the injuries on Atsushi’s back appeared, right there and then.</p><p>“Believe me now?” Atsushi asked as he looked over at Imai.</p><p>“Uh… that does look very real,” Imai replied as he was unable to look away from the video. After the footage had ended, Atsushi also showed the pictures they had taken to show how the injuries have changed over time, Imai did not know what he saw, it was unreal.</p><p>“Uh… okay that was uh…” Imai started, he did not even know what to say.</p><p>“Crazy?” Issay finished.</p><p>“Yes,” Imai said, crazy it sure was. “But, one thing I almost forgot… why the fuck aren’t you dressed?” Imai added, a question addressed to Atsushi.</p><p>“Ah, yeah… didn’t feel like it, didn’t know you would come visit.”</p><p>“He was actually asleep when you rang the bell,” Issay added with a soft laugh.</p><p>“Yeah well I didn’t sleep well last night,” Atsushi defended.</p><p>“You sure didn’t, but neither did I,” Issay mentioned, both men were not fully rested.</p><p>“Wait, you stayed over here?” Imai asked Issay.</p><p>“Yes… thought I showed up here early?” Issay simply replied.</p><p>“Right, too scared to be alone?” Imai asked Atsushi, he did not mean to offend anyone but the two other men misunderstood his meaning behind it.</p><p>“Have you seen the fucking state he is in?!” Issay returned, referring to Atsushi and his injuries, “he can’t even fucking walk, was I supposed to just leave him alone?!”</p><p>“Alright, calm down,” Atsushi said, placing his hand on Issay’s thigh, hoping it would keep him somewhat relaxed. It worked as Issay just sat back, not saying anything. “And also, yes, I was scared, is that really that weird after what happened? You saw it yourself now,” Atsushi added, holding up the camera in one hand.</p><p>“No, I didn’t mean it like that, just wondered what the reason was. So, all of that footage is real huh.”</p><p>“Why would I try to fake it? First of all, I wouldn’t even know how to do that, second, I was looking for solid evidence, I am not aiming to fuck around,” Atsushi clarified as Issay stood up and walked away, only to come back with the first aid kit.</p><p>“We should replace that bandage again, just in case,” Issay said as he signed at Atsushi to move over. Atsushi moved into the corner of the couch as Issay took the spot in between the two men, Atsushi then moved his legs onto the couch, making sure his crotch area was covered by the bathrobe as he put his left leg on Issay’s lap.</p><p>“Wait… are you even wearing any underwear?” Imai asked as Issay had started removing the bandage around Atsushi’s ankle.</p><p>“Uh, no.”</p><p>“So… even though you weren’t alone here tonight, you aren’t really wearing anything?” Imai then asked, it almost seemed like this surprised him more than the strange incidents they discussed earlier.</p><p>“Yes,” Atsushi replied, his face was starting to become red and thus he looked away. As the room fell silent the gears in Imai’s head started to visibly work. As the bandage was fully removed from Atsushi’s leg, Imai saw that the wound was worse than he had expected it to be.</p><p>“That looks quite deep,” Imai mentioned as Issay paused what he was doing to take a good look at it as well.</p><p>“Hm yeah, I wanted to wait and see what this would do over night, but we might actually have to get you to a hospital,” Issay agreed, the wound was not bleeding anymore, but it also did not look good. And after all, it was probably a good idea to get Atsushi checked out, not only his ankle, but his back as well.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll need to get dressed then,” Atsushi mentioned, he did not disagree with the idea of getting this checked out, it might be more damaged than they thought after all.</p><p>“Yep,” was all Issay said as he had just bound up the younger man’s ankle again and stood up from the couch, opening the door to the bedroom. Issay then picked Atsushi up in his arms and carried him into the bedroom, laying him down onto the bed as he went to close the door, catching a strange look from Imai as he did so.</p><p>Issay quickly helped Atsushi into his clothes, first getting the younger man into his underwear, then his gray sweatpants and a plain, white shirt before Issay opened the door to the bedroom again and carried Atsushi back out.</p><p>“Will you come along to help open doors?” Issay asked Imai who was still seated on the couch.</p><p>“Uh, sure. Just one more question,” Imai said as he stood up. Issay and Atsushi just looked at him, waiting for him to talk. “What is going on between you two?”</p><p>Issay and Atsushi both simply smiled, it took long enough for Imai to finally bring it up, they had not really tried to hide it after all, yet they were not being super obvious either. Issay and Atsushi looked at each other, as if speaking in telepathy, Atsushi then moved his face closer to Issay’s and the two kissed each other on the lips, a kiss that lasted for about two seconds.</p><p>“Does that answer your question?” Atsushi simply asked, smiling as the two pulled apart.</p><p>“Right… whatever,” Imai returned as he walked to the hall, getting his shoes back on. Issay placed Atsushi down onto the floor as he too put his shoes on, Atsushi did the same and their coats were next. As they were all ready to go, Atsushi climbed onto Issay’s back and like that they went to Issay’s car. Atsushi and Imai took place in the backseat as Issay drove to the hospital.</p>
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